(March 24, 2019 at 11:02 am)Gae Bolga Wrote:You said "Some people feel many things, that doesn;t mean that their feels are an accurate representation of reality, so..no...feeling like something helps doesn't actually make a thing a force for good. " I didn't claim it was a truth of reality but an influencer of reality. Just because something feels right, doesn't mean it is right. That's the main reason for searches for objective truth, which I thought you were a proponent of. It's a fairly simple and common concept called positive reinforcement. The crux of the issue though isn't about the feel goods, but that feeling good about something can lead to good actions which causes good systemically.
The OP was attempting to frame the thread as a universal claim (that all religions are not peaceful) while at the same time acknowledging that people as a whole aren't peaceful and the problem exists in many facets of civilization. I was simply pointing that out as preposterous.
I wasn't feigning knowledge. We both know the church as a whole has and does some atrocious claims, but since you seemed to want to get specific, I was allowing you to elaborate. You can't fault me for the Timmy hit me too perspective when one person is trying to make a generalization and another is getting specific. No, I am not down with a tax exempt institution sucking up public tax funds. Does that even happen? The rest of your list isn't dogmatic, organizational or doctrinal and smacks of typical HUMAN behavior on every facet.
Do you believe people are responsible for the evil they commit or that God is? I feel they are personally accountable.
Do you believe that "bad religion" negates personal accountability? I don't, but you have yet to prove that "bad religion" exists, much less the responsibility on God or an organization. As an example, I know that the Catholic Church has been doing horrible shit to kids for a long time and then covering it up. I hold the individuals responsible for their actions. I don't (nor do I think they do) blame religious doctrine or God for that. If the people in the food lines feel it's their calling to take care of the homeless, widows and orphans cite their beliefs, doctrine and God as the reason why the do it then that reason (at least partially) informs their beliefs and spur their action improving society doesn't it? Being religious doesn't prevent you or excuse you from doing bad things. I will admit that it does really speak towards human drive to commit evil that, despite indoctrination into "loving religion" and societal pressures, people still do atrocious things. I just don't see how you're arguing that simply having a particular moral framework is by definition automatically detrimental as a whole.
"There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry." -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
